On Sunday woman all over the globe will be marking international women’s day. The International Trade Union movement’s theme for the day is ‘Count us in’.

And then:

“On International Women’s Day we celebrate all women workers – those in paid and unpaid work. We honour working women heroes who have stood out as champions for women’s rights at work. We celebrate Kristine Barlett and the many thousands of caregivers who are at the forefront of the historic struggle for equal pay In New Zealand,” CTU Women’s Committee Co-convenor, Sheryl Cadman, said.

With regard to the first sentence, which woman all over the globe are they talking about?

Or – surely not – did they mean “women”?

If that be so, let’s be clear: many women all over the globe may well mark the occasion. But not all.

Alf has always had a high regard for the decent family values championed by Bob McCroskrie and his Family First outfit.

But he’s bothered to learn that on the matter of movies and censorship, Bob’s more inclined to embrace the hard-line attitude of a Moslem country than the more liberal position of our Mother Country, the United Kingdom.

Bob is urging folk not to go to a movie with the unappetising title “Fifty Shades of Grey”.

He must be colour blind, because he makes it sound like this is a very naughty blue movie and accordingly is best avoided by decent family people.

Sorry, we can’t call him Alf…the regulations demand he be called Hone..

Dunno if we are supposed to feel guilty.

But the precious prats at Radio NZ, who relish showing off their Te Reo to an audience comprising many listeners with no inkling of what they are saying, now seems to be rebuking Kiwis for not thinking about indigenous options when they name their kids.

A pro-life advocate (and maybe many of them) has expressed concerns that New Zealand’s first “made-to-order baby” will carry an unfair burden.

Gotta say Alf is troubled, too, by this and other goings-on in the baby-making business, although he does not reject all the advances being made by medical researchers. For example, he sees some merit in the prospect of being given a penis transplant.

This would enable him to step up a few sizes from the present model. Moreover, all going well, he might find one that works.

Muhammed has become the most popular name for baby boys in London for the first time.

But across the Atlantic, in Newport, Tennessee, a judge has changed a toddler’s name from Messiah to Martin, saying the religious name was earned by one person and “that one person is Jesus Christ.”

Funny old world, eh?

Alf learned from the Daily Mail (here) that combined spellings of the Islamic prophet’s name have made it the most popular name for newborn boys in England for three years in a row.

They rank higher than other favourites such as Harry and Jack in the top 100 names for boys from the Office for National Statistics.

Now, however, the single variant Muhammad has topped the list in the capital with 768 registered births last year, ahead of Daniel on 666.

When combined with Mohammed, the name was more than double any other with 1479 boys given the name.

Across England, a total of 7,032 babies were given the name using the spellings of Muhammad (18th), Mohammed (25th) and Mohammad (58th) – topping the 6,893 that were called Harry.

Harry and Amelia were the most popular baby names in 2012 for the second year running.

But names such as Hugo, Sonny and Seth for boys, and Ivy, Darcey, Tilly and Violet for girls are storming up the list.

Several modern names which had gained popularity in recent years – Alf is delighted to report – have dropped out of the top 100 altogether.

These include Ashton and Reece for boys and Nicole and Kayla for girls.

Lisa Penney, of the parenting club Bounty.com, believes that while celebrity-styled or unusual names may be fun, parents know their children will ‘probably have an easier ride in the playground if they choose a more traditional name’.

The boy’s parents were in court because they could not agree on the child’s last name, but when the judge heard the boy’s first name, she ordered it changed, too.

“It could put him at odds with a lot of people and at this point he has had no choice in what his name is,” Ballew said.

It was the first time she ordered a first name change, the judge said.

But hey. The report which brought this matter to the Grumbles’ attention said Messiah was No. 4 among the fastest-rising baby names in 2012, according to the Social Security Administration’s annual list of popular baby names.

The judge seems to have been oblivious to that fact.

The judge in eastern Tennessee said the baby was to be named Martin DeShawn McCullough, which includes both parents’ last name.

The boy’s mother, Jaleesa Martin, of Newport, said she will appeal. She says Messiah is unique and she liked how it sounded alongside the boy’s two siblings — Micah and Mason.

“Everybody believes what they want so I think I should be able to name my child what I want to name him, not someone else,” Martin said.

But Judge Ballew said the name Messiah could cause problems if the child grows up in Cocke County, which has a large Christian population.

“The word Messiah is a title and it’s a title that has only been earned by one person and that one person is Jesus Christ,” the judge said.

But the parents of this child don’t have to stick with Martin, surely.

And if they want to go for something Biblical, well, as you can learn here, there are some 200 names and titles of Christ found in the Bible.

The site lists some of the more prominent ones, organized in three sections relating to names that reflect the nature of Christ, His position in the tri-unity of God, and His work on earth on our behalf.